If Only
by GlassJaw
Summary: A girl is trapped in a nightmarish castle of ME with Gollum ... I suck at summeries


Disclaimer: I only own Isabel, Tolkien owns Gollum and Middle-Earth (Which are spiffy)

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Isabel walked throughout an empty hallway. She wandered into dim rooms, but just ended up stuck in dead ends. Somewhere a door creaked and then imperceptibly shut. She stood for a while, trying to figure out in what direction the noise came from, so she could go the opposite way … away from _it._

"I think it came from over there." Isabel assumed. She silently moved into the shadows so _it_ wouldn't find her. Creeping through the pitch black passage of which she had come so familiar to, she arrived in front of an oak door. Before entering, she put her ear to the door. Hearing nothing, Isabel breathed a sigh of relief. Wiping the sweat from her clammy hands, she opened it.

A great expression of disappointment appeared across her face as she saw nothing. There was only a great big block of darkness in front of her. She needed to get out of that house and away from _it. _Closing the door behind her, she once again took her place in the hallway.

"It's close Isabel," a voice in her head taunted, "You know its coming." A look of fear came on her face as the color drained from it.

"Shut up! Shut up!" she screamed in her mind, but in her heart she knew it was true. It _was_coming for her. Her green eyes darted to and fro around her surroundings.

It was _too _quiet …

Soon the silence got to her. Cold sweat poured down her face. Her hands started to shake. Soon other voices also warned and mocked her. Isabel couldn't escape from them no matter how hard she tried to block them out. It was like she was a prisoner of her own mind, in a penitentiary of paranoia.

Isabel's limbs ached dreadfully. Every time her stomach growled with hunger pains, she would hit it to keep silent. She had to slap herself just to stay awake. If she didn't, _it_ would get her. She was a zombie, never eating nor sleeping nor stopping … just like _it_.

Stooping to tie her shoe, Isabel heard something. Something that came from behind her. Something she couldn't explain. Something that sounded …_unnatural_. Turning around, she felt the green rug slide from under her feet, but it was not from her. She could hear raspy breathing. She heard it struggling to breathe. 

"Gollum is comings for you." it hissed as it slid itself across the floor. 

Hearing that, Isabel ran. She ran as fast as she could, whilst tripping and stumbling over herself. Its words haunted her mind. She turned a sharp corner and disappeared into the dark depths of the building.

"I have to get out of this place." Isabel muttered to herself. She continued on her quest to find a way out. Noticing a picture on the wall, she reached up to take it down. With a sickening shatter, it fell to the floor.

"I've been going in circles!" she whined. Isabel tugged on her brown hair, about ready to scream. She leaned against the stone wall. Gradually she slid down until finally she was sitting on the icy floor. After a moment's pause, she slammed her fist onto the ground and stood up, determined to get out of that castle. Looking around, Isabel discovered a door she had not yet gone into. Gripping the brass door handle, she opened the door and crossed the thresh hold.

Ahead of her was another long hallway. This time however, there were only two doors. The one on her right seemed more comforting than the other at the end of the hall, so she went to it first.

Upon noticing it was locked, Isabel pushed her weight against it. After what seemed like hours, the hinges finally broke. Opening the splintered door, she saw that it was only just another small, dark room except this one wasn't empty. Inside was a mirror.

The mirror wasn't very big. About the size of Isabel it was. It vaguely shone in the gloom, but just enough to tell that there actually _was_ a mirror in it. At first glance she didn't notice it, but then she saw it.

With narrowed eyes she walked towards it. "This is all your fault." she muttered, still glaring at it. As if the mirror were alive, it twinkled in amusement which only made the girl angrier. If it weren't for Gollum, she would have screamed in fury right then and there. Approaching the mirror, she saw not her own reflection, but of her bedroom at home.

Her bedroom where she would read or write poetry. Where she had read all about Middle-Earth. … the room where she would go and cry. The one place where she felt safe. And the room where she imagined that the place she was in now was better than there. 

She was wrong.

Sure there were the times when she wished she hadn't been born. Times like when she couldn't take life anymore and her hand strayed to the bottle of pills or a gleaming kitchen knife. Or like when her parents fought and she ran into her little sanctuary like room and blocked out all the sounds of the screaming and yelling. Those were the times when she just wanted to end it. Those were also the times when she would turn to the mirror.

Isabel pretended like everything was ok, but when she was alone it was all different.

She would break down and eventually cry herself to sleep, but during those times she couldn't help wondering, "What is it _really_ like in Middle-Earth?" 

She wanted so badly to be there since she thought it was so much better there. Isabel was so caught up in thinking it was better, that she hadn't thought about the other possibilities. No, she only assumed that it was happy and that the people there would actually like her and would be nice to her. She wanted so badly for it to be better there that she only pretended that she was right.

Now she wished that she didn't. She wished that she had thought about the other possibilities. She wished that she hadn't been so stupid. She wished that she had considered the thought about it being like it was now, a nightmare. She wished that she could go back …

Isabel wished she could go back. She wished she had waited only one more second. "That's it," she thought, "If only I had waited one more second." She cursed herself for being the fool she was and not waiting one more second to think things over just like always. Just like all the other times when she would only feel the cold, bitter glass against her skin. Only one more second …

Snapping back into reality, she glared at the mirror. "I hate you!" Isabel hissed through clenched teeth. Walking towards it, she balled her fists. In a split second, the glass had shattered. Shards of crystal sparkled on the floor like jewels. 

Drops of crimson dotted the diamonds.

Clutching her right hand, Isabel left the room. She walked to the last door on the left at the end of the hallway. After a moment of hesitation, she flung the door open. Hopes to see a path or the sky, maybe even another door were soon shattered just like the mirror. There was only a staircase leading into nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"I'm trapped just like a rat." she whimpered. Isabel ran up the stairs, hoping to see some kind of door or hallway. To her misfortune, she tripped and slid down the stone stairs. Her hand's wound opened up and blood ran down her arm. Also she had skinned her elbow, chin, and both knees. She didn't care though; all she wanted was to get out. She would worry about it all once she was out…

Isabel picked herself up, carefully cradling her bloody hand. Walking up the stairs as best she could, she finally reached the stair landing. As she looked around, her jaw dropped. There actually _was _nothing at all. No doors, no windows, no corridors, no nothing.

She heard a noise.

In horror she turned around. _It _was down there. She could hear it struggling to breathe. She could almost feel it down her neck. Isabel could see Gollum's translucent skin almost radiating in the shadows it was shrouded in. Its milky white eyes shone brightly in the darkness.

"Why are you following me?" Isabel cried out.

"Gollum is hungrys." it answered as it pulled itself up the steps, growing ever closer to her.

"B-b-but why? She sobbed as she clutched the frail banister.

"Gollum has an empty holes in its belly." the creature rasped.

"If you let me go," she exclaimed, "I'll bring you some food!"

"Gollum wants yous. No one _ever _leaves Gollum says." it threatened, continuing up the stairs.

"There were others?" Isabel inquired as she backed away from the monster.

"Gollum is missing the juicy fleshes!" Gollum shrieked. Isabel had to cover her ears, but she could still hear the starved creature's cry.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted.

"Gollum can'ts do that." it replied. Soon it was only a few feet away from her.

"I can't take this!" Isabel screamed.

"Gollum is comings." repeated the creature once more.

"If only I had waited one more second …" she whispered. Suddenly everything became different. Isabel didn't care anymore. It was hopeless. Her attempts to escape left her no avail and were only futile. She could never get out. Leaning against the banister, she sighed. Now she could only watch and wait as it crawled up the stairs. There was no chance she could get out. She couldn't keep running away forever … living like a zombie for the rest of her short life. It would get to her sooner or later.

Gollum crawled up another step. Its long fingers grasped the ledge-like stairs.

If only she had waited one more second …

END

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I wrote a story like this for English class and the 'monster' was sorta like Gollum so I just changed a few things. The creature doesn't talk/act exactly like how Gollum would, but … Iunno. It's close enough ^_^;;; Hope you enjoyed it anyways ^_^


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